How to Lose a Friend in Ten Lessons
by LilyBartAndTheOthers
Summary: Ten stages of a relation leading to misfortunate sequels. WK fic.
1. Lesson one

**Lesson 1: how to interfere with the past and cross the lines**

It had never happened before. In twenty-five years of intensive practice she had never been turned down, not a single time. Some might have been harder to get than others but at the end they had always ended up in her bed, proving thus that seduction was more than a mere acolyte to her.

It was a real weapon, efficient and sharp; extremely satisfying in all its briefness.

Or at least she had thought so until that night.

Succumbing for once to the instinctive reactions of her body Karen slammed the door of her bedroom and went to sit down furiously on a chair, elbows leaned against the dressing-table; chin in the palm of her right hand.

It wasn't more anger than frustration and incomprehension like when you were forced to face a situation that until now had worked perfectly well and for some reason had suddenly decided to fall down. It was disturbing and let you blank.

She closed her eyes to find more concentration and repeat the scene in her head.

The wind hitting hard against the window produced an odd melody, an icy one. The night had plunged the area in the dark a very long time ago but she was sure that it was still snowing outside; the temperatures had considerably lowered for the past few hours and before settling for dinner the first flakes had fallen quietly, recovering the landscape of a pure layer of whiteness just as the local weather forecast had announced on the radio.

The weekend in Vermont would be a snowy one, with an immense blue sky.

If she had had to adapt the meteorological conditions to her personal life though, Karen would have mentioned big, heavy gray clouds.

When had it gone wrong? What had she said that he had literally laughed before turning his back at her and going upstairs to his own bedroom? As heartless and calculated as it sounded, she had used his sadness with a meticulous subtlety, played his game all along and never forgotten to be feminine. Her sensuality was a hard one to resist. It wasn't a lie but simply what men had kept on telling her since the day she had started flirting.

Her charms hadn't had the slightest effect on him and it seemed that her entire integrity had suddenly been reduced to ashes.

Too feverish to even pour the alcohol in a glass, she grabbed the bottle of Vodka and drank directly from the bottle. Tears invaded her eyes as the liquid burnt her throat and very slowly the world turned softer, a bit fuzzy too perhaps.

Led by her growing frustration she eventually stood up and observed her reflection in the mirror. She was still wearing the negligee _ one short enough to reveal the curves of her hips and the generosity of her chest _ she had managed to keep on while playing with Jack and her black stockings highlighted her thighs with mischievousness.

The image sent back was a sexy one and she knew it.

Her heart jumped, pounded loud against her chest as the door flew open and he stood on the frame. Her eyes locked with his brown ones in the reflection of the mirror. She swallowed hard, unsure of the reason of his presence in her bedroom. After the fiasco of her previous approach, she seemed to have restrained her self-confidence.

She turned around and looked how he closed the door quietly behind him.

When he finally locked it she knew that she had won.

This time a bright smile played on her lips as she slowly walked towards him. She grabbed his wrist and realized that she was already celebrating her victory when they hadn't even shared a kiss.

With calm and great control she led him to the bed, made him lay down and passed her legs over him to finally straddle his waist. Her fingertip brushed his face, ran down his chest as she rested the palm of her other hand on his lower stomach playing softly with the cotton of his shirt.

Feeling him get aroused between her legs made her raise an eyebrow and she looked at him with an amused gaze.

She leaned on her elbows, never breaking eye-contact with him, and finally tasted his skin as her tongue made contact with his stomach. He gasped under the touch but didn't say a word, only swallowed hard. Except his misfortunate one-night stand with Diane, she knew that she was the only woman and the situation probably intimidated him a bit; not that she cared since she had always loved dominating.

Her hands slid up his chest _ brushing his skin _ as she took off his shirt and drew little circles on his body with her tongue, going up slowly until she bit one of his nipples; all along looking at him.

Her lips reached his chin, the curves of his mouth and she stopped briefly thinking about the reasons why they had come there in the first place; Grace's insistence, his anniversary with Michael.

Her fingers got intertwined with his and she put his hands over his head, her eyes a few inches away from his.

"Are you sure this is what you want, honey?"

Her voice was hoarse like every time she was turned on. The sudden change from her usual high-pitched tone surprised Will but he only nodded, pushing his pelvis closer to her as a quiet answer to her question.

She didn't need more and licked his lips until he parted them and caressed her tongue with his in a playful, daring and exciting motion.

His brown gaze disappeared from her sight as they finally succumbed to a deep, lustful kiss and she closed her eyes, smiling in his mouth.

Obviously no, nobody could resist her charms.


	2. Lesson two

**Lesson 2: how to make of lust your main principle in life**

Men used to fit in two different categories. There were the ones who lusted after her cleavage _ the way her bra emphasized her curves flawlessly _ and the ones who tended to prefer when she turned around and stayed quiet, vaguely dominated but yet very strict in her constant demands.

Will belonged to the first category, she had always known it.

The door got opened but she didn't look up immediately. Instead, she remained concentrated on the book she was reading and let him come to her. After the weekend in Vermont she had imagined that it would be over, that he would turn the page and get back to his life as if nothing had happened but against all expectations he had asked for more and she had broken the rules of one-night stands encounters as agreeing upon his desire.

What could she say? His lack of experience with women had been thrilling and soon enough he had known what to do, how and when. Will was a good student and a delightful lover.

He abandoned his briefcase on the floor, took his coat off and got rid of his shoes. A long sigh escaped from his lips, the exact same ones that had kissed her entire body, and he finally stood in front of her, hands in the pockets of his pants.

"Are these your casual clothes when you have to attend special meetings?"

Finally abandoning her book, Karen looked up at him as a disabused smile played on her lips. She had arrived in advance and took off her own dress, revealing thus a satin black negligee that matched in a sexy motion her expensive stilettos and the delicate design of her stockings. Then she had simply waited for him, sat down suggestively on an armchair; more or less focalized on the story of the book she had brought along.

"You would like, wouldn't you?"

"What are you reading?"

She tossed the book on the coffee table and settled further on her seat, never breaking eye-contact with him. The discovering of the title made him laugh.

"Secret Diary of a London Call Girl, hmm… And what are your fees exactly?"

Her high heel made contact with his chest and she felt him shiver under the unexpected touch as she went up slowly to his neck before heading down back to his lower stomach and she eventually ended up caressing his inner thighs.

"You couldn't even afford the first minute, honey. Consider it as a present… This is on me."

The mere contact of her shoe with his shaft seemed to be efficient enough to stir up reactions from his body. It made her smile. Hands on the arms of the chair, she vaguely looked like a dominating queen over her whole kingdom, a sort of Cleopatra in an adult-only version. Her tongue caressed her lips as she finally wrapped her legs around him and pushed him closer to her seat a bit roughly.

His eyes lowered a few inches on her body.

"You like them, don't you?"

Her hands slid up her thighs and came to rest on her chest, pushing her curves up to give him a better view of them.

"Who wouldn't?"

He looked amused. He always did and for some reason it sounded delighting, fresh enough.

"You love my breasts, Will. You're a breast man. You not only stare at them but always bring a lot of care to them when you finally decide to touch me…"

"Is that a bad thing?"

Her right foot had come back on his inner leg where she was now teasing him with approximate massages.

"Certainly not but I thought you would mostly belong to the other category."

"What do you mean?"

"Some men get interest in my breasts when others seem obsessed with my ass and let's face it, according to your sexual preferences, I had imagined that you would prefer to fuck me from the other side around."

Her feet found back the firmness of the floor and in a fluid movement she stood up from the armchair and leaned over, grabbing his belt with her hands. Will let her do.

"I thought women didn't like it both ways."

It happened so many times, when all of a sudden she felt overwhelmed by her words and they left her in a delicate situation because if she had had to be honest, she indeed wasn't fond of some yet ancestral sexual habits; starting with this one. She had just wanted to play along but one more time she had been caught up back by her mischievous remarks.

Pouting, Karen shrugged and raised an eyebrow.

His pants slid down on his legs. Her fingertips followed the lines of his boxer, slowly.

She liked having sex. She had always liked it. Perhaps it was more the selfish part that ended up, every time, culminating in a delightful orgasm or the mere pleasure to feel exciting in the eyes of the other... She wasn't sure but yet nothing would ever stop her to have her way with men, over and over.

She made a step backwards and the back of her knee brushed the armchair behind. Plunging her eyes in his, her hands slowly went up her thighs until they reached her tongue and she took it off. She sat back on the seat and opened her legs wide, leaning them up on the arms of the chair; her negligee barely covering her most intimate part.

She bit her lower lip before smiling suggestively.

"I like seeing the one who makes me reach climax."

Will kneeled down. She held her breath but didn't close her eyes.


	3. Lesson three

**Lesson three: how to lie and still get pleasure from it**

"I am supposed to have dinner with a friend, tonight."

"Stanley made plans so I have no choice but to follow them."

"Of course I don't mind. He can date whoever he wants. It's his life, not mine."

"Just because he turned me down doesn't me I took it bad."

"If I made of Karen my wife, there must be a reason to though it's not that important right now."

The limits were very thin sometimes between the integrity of truth and the eloquence of lies. Being honest never completely matched with the scene and nobody cared, nobody paid attention to it since all along their lives it had only been an insignificant detail.

Adults always insisted that children needed to know the truth but it never stopped them either and they all kept on lying when the shades of reality reached a fuzzy distance with conventionalism.

Being judged by others was way too scaring to even try the slightest thing.

"What are you drinking?"

She had woken up in the morning feeling melancholic. It hadn't happened for a very long time but the rain falling down and the gray clouds seemed to have dragged her down all day long, plunging her in the depths of dizzy thoughts that never led anywhere.

She took another sip of her drink and from the armchair she was sitting on, caressed the window with her bare foot dreamingly.

"It's Chardonnay. If you want some the bottle is on the table of the lobby."

Three months had flown away since the night she had seduced him in Vermont and got him in her bed under the most delightful secrets of an exciting affair. Not that he was high in demand but he still hadn't renounced, on the contrary. Their encounters were winning an odd regularity that tended to take her aback; her who was used to mere one-night stands in the perfect anonymity of Manhattan.

"I'm not thirsty. Thank you, though."

"How long do you have?"

"I told Grace that I would see an old friend of mine and you?"

She couldn't figured out the street properly through the window, being on the upper floors of the luxurious hotel but the lights of New York were glimmering in the dark with the same elegance as her well-known lies.

A long sigh escaped from her lips as she raised a disabused eyebrow and smiled a bit absent-mindedly.

"Stanley didn't even ask. Actually I barely saw him today so it makes it all easier somehow."

"Is it a new negligee? Red suits you very well."

They had argued once about their respective lives, about Stanley and Grace. Lacking tact Will had asked her if she ever had any remorse before her lustful and yet unfaithful sexual life. She had taken it bad and snapped immediately an allusion to Grace and how their friend would react if she knew that he had slept with more than one woman. They hadn't cancelled anything after but it had still broken the spell so from then on, they only stuck to random, fade comments.

"It is, indeed. I went to _La Perla_ this afternoon. Do you like it?"

Karen took a last sip of her white wine and stood up to face Will, her legs a bit spread. One more time she had kept her stilettos on _ mainly because the heels made her looked taller and sexier, giving a delicate line to her ankles _ but had also put her glasses on as a slight headache had unexpectedly set off a few hours earlier. It wasn't an item she liked to adopt and for a brief second, she even wondered if it wasn't actually the first time Will saw her with them on.

His brown eyes went up her legs slowly and stopped on her breasts as an instinctive smile played on his lips. So many times she had thought that he would be different, that his reactions would be timid and not so similar to her previous acolytes' ones but she had been wrong all along.

He was just a man turned on by the generous curves of her body, like all the others.

"It's indeed quite tempting."

"But I'm sure your favorite part is when I get rid of it."

She approached the bed where he was sat on and placed herself between his legs. Her knees brushed the mattress. She locked her eyes with his and very slowly took off the piece of clothing. The satin negligee fell down on the floor in a delicate silence.

Being naked had never been an issue to her; no mattered she might have had some insecurities, like everyone. She wasn't that different in the end, just owned a peculiar capacity to put it all aside and forget about it.

"Let's face it, Will. I know you prefer a skin-to-skin…"

Her legs wrapped up his waist as she sat on the bed, facing him, pushing him farer on the mattress; not so close to the edge of the bed. A hand rested on his chest but the other one went straight between his legs and as she began an arousing massage, her lips found back the taste of his mouth with a barely restrained sigh.

Her tongue slid on his and she plunged a hand in his hair, brushing her pelvis against his. His fingers ran down her back before caressing her buttocks and her hips with obvious desire. Will was turned on very easily, a lot more than a dozen of men she had slept with. Foreplays didn't last that long on him and so she could enjoy the attention he brought to her own arousing.

She leaned her head backwards _ arched her back towards his lips as he traced a path of kisses down her breasts _ and her nails dug half-moon crescents on his skin. She loved the way his tongue seemed to lick the slightest inch of her flesh, with a meticulous dedication that put all her senses in alert and very soon she found herself panting, rubbing her pelvis against his aroused shaft.

"Hell, fuck me now."

Her breath was short and seemed to have swallowed her order in a barely audible whisper. She took his shirt off as he got rid of his boxers and she let him lift up her lips until the connection between their bodies got complete.

He always leaned for a lustful kiss when he penetrated her, stealing her sigh of satisfaction in a playful massage of his tongue on hers.

She settled on him and shivered as the bare movement caused a wave of exhilarating sensations spread over her whole body. She pushed him closer and started the thrusts as her moist lips attacked his neck with a deep hunger.

Every single motion sent shivers down her spine as her orgasm was quickly building in her lower stomach. His hands on her breasts, on her back, everywhere and his lips devouring her collarbone made her skin melt under every touch.

She speeded up the pace, smiling in his mouth; her legs going weak as she was approaching her climax.

She lied, he lied, Grace lied, Jack lied and Stanley lied. None of them was playing the game with honest cards but who cared? Perhaps the truth also laid in the eloquence of their lies.

A hoarse groan escaped from her mouth and she bit her lower lip as a wave of pleasure spread over her whole body and she pressed his head against her shoulder blade.

"Come now, Will."


	4. Lesson four

**Lesson four: how to use provocation with sharp subtlety**

Alcohol was intoxicating but she liked the way it seemed to sweeten everything, making it all fuzzy and smooth. That was probably the reason why she kept on drinking so much in the end. Reality was bare and cold without a glass of Vodka in hand.

She felt fine then, as if her brain had decided to shut down for a while and her wonders evolved quietly in the dark. She couldn't hear them and it was so smooth, so perfect. The morning-after headache was a little price to pay before the unique getaway that alcohol offered, taking her away from the pitiful existence of a millionaire.

"What is your favorite sexual position?"

Tequila had gone to Grace's head with a lot more effectiveness but sat down on the hardwood floor of the apartment _ enjoying the fireplace and an odd evening with her friend _ Karen giggled lightly and almost lost her balance.

They hadn't talked about men that much yet even though Grace had invited her over for the night because of the argument she had had on the phone with Stanley a few hours earlier. Of course she had always known that at some point their conversation would revolve around the opposite sex and like every time it happened, a wave of timidity set off in her mind.

She just didn't show it and shrugged instead, pouting as if she had no opinion whatsoever on the subject.

"Oh come on, Karen! What is the position that really makes you get off like there's no tomorrow?"

If alcohol stirred up shyness in her, Grace seemed to have succumbed to a bolder spell and her inhibitions had completely fallen down after the Tequila shots; the allusion to the loss their respective virginity helping as well.

"You won't believe me if I tell you, honey."

"Now you're a teaser! Come on, tell me and I'll tell you what's mine then."

Karen bit her lower lip and tried to win some time over her reply moving nervously on the floor, pretending to settle more comfortably.

"Actually it is missionary."

As usual when the question was asked and she had no way to avoid a reply, Karen faced the perplexity _ if not disappointment _ in her interlocutor's eyes and so she smiled to break down the silence that such unexpected confession had spread within a second.

"Who cares as long as I get off? Believe me I went at it yesterday and I certainly not regret it."

She stood up and hurried to the kitchen, more pushed by the desire to escape from her friend's gaze than anything else. Very slowly, she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and took a sip of the cold drink.

"Yesterday… But I guessed Stanley had left for Dubai last weekend…"

"Oh he did, indeed."

That was the kind of paradoxes that inhabited her. She could easily mention her infidelity without feeling troubled in the slightest way but confessing her favorite sexual position stirred up immediately an unbearable timidity. It didn't make sense at all.

She came back to the living-room and sat down next to an astonished, shocked Grace.

"Are you cheating on Stanley?"

"A marriage isn't about sex but money, honey. If you want to get laid then you get involved in affairs. This is how it has always worked."

"But… Does he know about it? I mean… How can you do that to him?"

The water turned too fade in her mouth and so she grabbed her bottle of beer before smiling reassuringly at Grace. Her friend's genuineness was touching but seemed so far from her own life.

"We never talk about it but it's definitely something implicit. You see, in high society nobody expects from you any fidelity of this sort when you get married. It is all about alliances and how to shine in public. What you do in your private life is yet well-known but not such a big problem in itself. Every single couple has affairs. It belongs to the game… You won't find anything else than an arranged marriage."

"Then why were you mad at Stanley this afternoon? If you two are in a sort of free relationship, you shouldn't care."

"I'd say mainly because it's part of the rules."

"So everyone sleeps with everyone? It's quite disturbing."

"Oh no, honey! It is all about having sex with someone who doesn't belong to high society."

"And who is your lover boy?"

Grace giggled under her own question before taking another Tequila shot.

"That I will certainly not tell you, it's private."

"Just like Will, you're not funny at all when it comes to your relationships. I know he's seeing someone right now and yet he keeps on refusing to tell me more about it."

"Give him some time and perhaps one day you will meet him. Or her…"

The allusion made Grace burst out laughing but Karen didn't insist. If she knew about Diane, it was only because of Jack who one day had revealed it by accident. Will being there at the time, he had confirmed but also insisted on the fact that Grace didn't know about it.

"We're not in the fourth dimension, Karen. As much as we both think that Will is a handsome guy, he is gay as well. He doesn't date any woman."

"But what if he did one day? Anything can happen, no?"

"Putting aside the irrational aspect of this question, if he actually dated a woman then he wouldn't have the slightest reason to be a part of my life ever again."

Karen took a sip of beer but it tasted bitter, not so good anymore.

They fell asleep on the couch at some point but eventually woke up in the middle of the night and retreated, half-asleep, to their respective bedrooms. Will had decided to stay at Jack so that Karen would have his room to spend the night over. The decision was nice for anyone who didn't know about their acts but when she stepped in his bedroom at three in the morning, an odd sentiment spread over her heart.

The blanket had his scent, every single item around reminded her of him and yet he wasn't there. She settled in bed and grabbed a book abandoned on the nightstand, leafing through it until a noise pierced the silence of the apartment.

"Karen, is that you?"

She hadn't bothered to close the door properly and as she looked up, recognizing his voice, she saw him come to stand on the frame, unsure if he could enter or not.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were at Jack's."

"I forgot my BlackBerry and the workaholic I am needs it."

"Oh… Then come in."

For some mysterious reason she got up as he stepped in and went to the window to observe the lights of Manhattan in the dark.

"Nice room, by the way."

"Thank you. How was the evening?"

She shrugged, pouted and as she finally abandoned the contemplation of Riverside Drive to turn around, she came into a face-to-face with him that a few inches only separated their bodies.

She locked her eyes with his, swallowed hard and felt how her heart speeded up its pace because of their extreme, sudden closeness. It was always the same.

His breath caressed her neck and sent a shiver down her spine. A quick glance at the door and she realized that he had closed it when coming in.

One, two, three…

Grabbing her hips, he lifted her up, pushing her against the window as she squeezed his waist and his lips found her neck eagerly. She leaned her head backwards and plunged her hand in his hair as his arousing became clear against her own pelvis.

Not even a minute and she was already panting.


	5. Lesson five

**Lesson five: how to pretend that everything is fine when you go from a mistake to another one**

She had never liked working on contracts. Not that her knowledge were restraint _ marrying powerful businessmen had at least the credits to bring her some ease on the subject _ but she found the terms boring and the syntax too arrogant. It had nothing to do with the subtlety of poetry she loved so much, how quietness could lead to the most wonderful fusions of words she had ever read and inhabited.

Law was blank.

"She is not here."

The murmur slid on her lips in an attempt of saving time but she didn't bother to look up at him and simply shook the pen she had in hand instead.

"I know. That's why I'm here. I thought we could have…"

His hands slid on her waist and she stood up immediately, taking her distance with him. She went straight to Grace's desk, leaned over and began to remove piles of papers. Her sudden reaction had taken him by surprise but it didn't stop his boldness in any way an very soon his hands found back her lower stomach as his lips attacked her neck through a trail of suggestive kisses.

"Will, would you mind? I'm working."

Of course he laughed and she pretended not to care because even if it hurt, she couldn't really blame him in the end. Anyone who knew her would have had the same reaction if they had happened to witness the scene and her unexpected remark.

She finally grabbed a file and headed back to her own desk.

"Now Karen, since you're working as you say, give me a good reason you shouldn't have a break."

In a fluid and yet sensual motion she sat back at her desk then took out of her pocket a tampon and waved it at Will before putting it back in the depths of her jacket.

"This is not a problem."

She scoffed, taken aback, and locked her eyes with his for the first time since he had entered the office. This was unexpected. Will never went into provocation; his role was to follow her mischievous suggestions.

"Excuse me?"

She hated this smile on his lips, the one that led him to think he actually controlled the whole situation and you were at his mercy just like in a courthouse. Sometimes she even came to wonder if she found herself with her insatiable lover or an arrogant attorney. It was intimidating, and cold.

"I'm just saying that having your period is a natural thing and…"

Hand in the air she stopped him right away and shook her head which only managed to increase his obvious delectation before the situation.

"You can definitely take me in any kind of position that crosses your mind _ for that I have no limits _ but not during this time of the month. I can't even imagine accepting such a thing. It's disgusting."

"Then how do you feel about oral sex?"

Speechless, she stared incredulous how his fingers began to draw little paths on her cleavage. The contact was soft and quite arousing but she was definitely not in the mood for anything.

"I created a monster… Grace should be back within a minute now. I wonder how she would react if she found you grabbing my breasts like that."

At the mention of Grace's name Will stopped immediately, took his hands off and made a step backwards. She had been far this time, losing her nerves. He stiffened.

"That was low."

"Maybe but have you ever thought once about this possibility?"

"Have you? I didn't force you to open your legs at me."

"This is why second-guessing is for. Go fuck yourself, Will."

"Are you firing me?"

Something in his voice got reflected in her eyes, a sort of uncertainty upon his question as if it had been a rhetorical one and that yes, indeed, it might have been time to put an end to everything.

She swallowed hard, took a deep breath and sighed, completely resigned.

"No, I'm not."

As she came to face his slight incredulousness, Karen realized that he hadn't expected a single second that she might abdicate at some point, so easily. Their teasing games and so-called arguments hadn't stopped increasing since they had started their affair _ as if their frustration found some balance in the anger of their words _ but none of them used to get resigned like that, almost cowardly.

She looked down at her desk and cleared her voice, passed a hand over a pile of contracts.

"When a woman says no it means that it's no, Will."

"No to what?"

Grace's question swept away the tension of the previous minutes as she walked in and grabbed Will's hand, heading to her desk. Like any time Jack was the only one missing, Karen remained behind _ blurry in the background _ as the other two locked themselves in their little sphere when nobody else would ever be allowed to come in.

It was probably a trick of her mind and a slight anxiety but since the evening they had spent together and the revelation of her infidelity, Karen had a feeling that Grace observed her differently. Sometimes it was just a furtive gaze, a stolen instant that almost vanished immediately but still long enough to set off a whole series of wonders about what could go on in her friend's head and what-if she knew a lot more; what if she happened to guess.

Not that it had slowed down their encounters but their affair now seemed to have an odd, oppressing bitter taste.


	6. Lesson six

**Lesson six: how to take the most of what is left when all the rest breaks down into pieces**

She passed on top of him but he immediately replied and rolled on his stomach to get on her. Her kiss broke into a smile, her sigh getting lost in his mouth.

Even when they had sex they felt the urge to fight, on a way or another now. It was an odd connection standing halfway between the tenderness of their friendship and the wild side of a pure sexual encounter, the bare instinct of their affair.

She squeezed his waist and pushed him closer to her body, rubbing with her feet his ankles. It drove him crazy. Such a tiny detail _ almost a random gesture _ and yet she had found out through the weeks that it turned him on every time.

"What the hell are you waiting for?"

Her breath caressed his ear in a mischievous whisper. Her voice was hoarse, barely audible.

Sliding over her Will leaned up on his elbows and grabbed the condom he had previously put down on the nightstand. As he rolled on his side, Karen vaguely sat up and took a sip of her Martini. She didn't like those moments. It always broke the spell and the impulsivity of their desires. Besides, it added something intimidating that pushed her to look aside, to pretend to sagely wait for him to be ready when her heart kept on pounding so loud against her frail chest.

"Do you like Vodka?"

Her eyes contemplated the mattress instead of his gaze and she only allowed herself to relax as his hands found back her hips.

"Yes I do, why?"

"Then enjoy your time."

Raising a challenging eyebrow to him, Karen slowly poured the last drops of her cocktail on her neck. The drink slid down her body, between her breasts and passing by her lower stomach before vanishing on her inner thighs. It was cold on her skin and sent shivers down her spine.

Will grabbed her glass, put it back on the nightstand and attacked the trail of Vodka on her shoulder blade.

"Yes, just like that…"

Karen closed her eyes and relaxed under Will's tongue on her flesh. She had never been particularly talkative during sex. For some reason she tended to relate it to boredom, a sort of escape before the uncomfortable fact that the given ministrations didn't work out on their own and so you had to do something more. But with Will it was different. The mere sound of her voice hitting the air as she dared to confess her fantasies added something that resulted even more exciting.

He reached her thigh and a silent laugh of satisfaction slid on her lips. Her fingers plunged in his hair and as she began to draw invisible circles on his head, she pushed him closer, getting more insistent on the finality of her desire.

The flesh-to-flesh contact warmed up her lower stomach immediately. It could have lasted a second that it would have resulted enough for her to notice the change of temperature in her body and how her heart began to race quickly; how she bit her lower lip and her legs were shaking. Will was good, very good at it.

"Oh god…"

Her whole body was so tense now that her back was constantly arching and she kept on moving her hips, trying to catch up her breath that had long gone now through her consecutive sighs.

"Stop now."

She never let him finish. Every time she pushed him away and asked silently for a full connection with his body. She wanted to feel him inside when she reached her climax, being able to squeeze him tight and give him a full, hungry kiss on the mouth. Oral sex was part of their foreplays but if she came without any penetration, the pleasure wouldn't be as complete as it could be and she would be frustrated.

Ten minutes later the tension slowly flew away and as her heart was getting back to a regular pace, she settled in Will's arms staring at the ceiling.

She was dying for a cigarette but she had left her bag in the lobby of the suite while coming in and it was way too far from the bed now.

"I'm losing you, aren't I? I'm losing everyone; you, Grace, Jack…"

She could have sworn she had felt his hand get tense on her waist but she preferred to ignore it. Instead she witnessed how Will moved nervously by her side, cleared his voice as if he wanted to save up some time.

"What do you mean exactly?"

He was lying and she knew it.

"The whole thing is breaking us down into pieces. Grace doesn't stop staring at me, Jack complains over and over because we don't hang out together anymore and you… We argue constantly."

"The arguments can stop."

"No and you know it. We have absolutely no limits. It drags everything down and yet all I want is you to keep on fucking me."

…

Absent-mindedly her fingertips brushed the wooden piece but Stanley's voice in her back stopped her immediately.

"Watch out, Karen. Mason's strategy could be fatal to you very soon."

Her hazel eyes went from her husband's son's smile to the square checkered board. They were approaching the end of the game as only a few pieces remained. Stanley put a hand on her shoulder. She swallowed hard.

"What do you mean, honey?"

"Haven't you noticed? You're in a delicate situation. Your queen is surrounded by his two rooks and he already got your king."

She smiled forcefully, resigned. Sometimes playing chess looked way too much like reality.


	7. Lesson seven

**Lesson seven: how to keep on smiling when everything falls apart**

"It was supposed to be a one-night stand. This is what happens, most of the times. I meet some man, sleep with him and leave before the end of the night. I like when I don't know his name, when I'm sure I won't even remember the color of his eyes a week later. Perhaps it is my own way to protect myself but I have never pretended to be perfect and so I just go on. Am I heartless? I don't think so. It is more about a lack of references and a perpetual escape from something I can't even name. My decisions are scandalous, shocking and yet so familiar to a thousand hypocritical people. The only difference between them and I is that I assume it all, all along. I never lie. But now…"

"I haven't met anyone else. As a matter of fact, I haven't gone out and tried to hook up with someone. I don't need it. You are here, so easily reachable. Besides I enjoy what we are doing even though we both know that theory tends to contradict it all. You are just like a fix of cocaine. Your hands, your tongue, the taste of your skin against mine… Every single inch of your body drives me crazy and yes, I guess we could say that I am addicted. The strange thing is that I have never been scared of anything when with you. The least gesture sounds logical, natural enough to follow it. But now…"

"It is over, isn't it? It is bringing down my marriage with Stanley and I know your relation with Grace has been damaged too."

"It doesn't lead us anywhere but to a dead-end path."

"I know."

"Then why do you cry?"

"I don't. It is like saying goodbye and putting it in the past. I hate that. You aren't hurting me in any way, don't be worried. It is just something about myself that nobody can really change."

"Are you sad?"

"I prefer the word 'melancholic' if you don't mind."

"You did well that night in Vermont when you came to me. I was really feeling down and your interest in me brought the necessary balance I was looking for. You gave me back some hope and a taste for life I had lost for a very long time."

"You represented something prohibited and unreachable. It was exciting like hell, you have no idea. You turned me down, which honestly troubled me but then… It was like doing some very bad thing as a child without being caught up at any moment. Do you see what I mean? This is the kind of things that doesn't happen every day, to any affair. I had a dozen of lovers since I married Stanley and yet you are the first one who…"

"It brought us apart, didn't it?"

"From the rest of the world, yes it did. But I don't want to regret anything. I don't, anyway. It is just that we need to stop before it ruining our lives. I am afraid it was a fatal attraction..."

"What are you going to do, tonight? Do you have any plan?"

"No, not really… Stanley is in Barcelona. Usually I accompany him when he goes abroad but I had a last-minute appointment and now I am here, alone."

"So let's meet at nine."

"Okay, see you at The Four Seasons. It's been a while…"

"Karen…"

"What?"

"I don't like when you cry. Please, smile."

"I will."

She grabbed her coat and left the lounge with precipitation. Something hurt in her throat, an odd sensation that came to press her heart with strength and then she felt bad. The air suddenly refused to reach her lungs so she ran outside, took a deep breath as the rain hit her face. It was chilly and the breeze was sharp on her nape. She closed her eyes but someone bumped into her and she lost her balance, lost control of herself as tears began to fall down on her face.

It had been three weeks now. They met at some private lounge, decided to put an end to a situation that was dragging everyone down and a few hours later, every time, she found back the heat of his chest against hers as they shared another orgasm.

"Are you alright?"

Someone grabbed her arm and forced her to open her eyes. It was a man in his mid-thirties, random but not completely deprived of charms.

She shook her head, looked down and began to walk up the avenue. She was about to reach Barney's when her cell phone vibrated in her bag. She took it out of it, checked the screen and sighed heavily before answering.

"What can I do for you, honey?"

"Where are you? Grace told me you were at the manse but when I called Rosie she told me you were out. We have to go to Barney's, now. Are you available?"

"Sure…"

"Are you crying? You sound like you're sobbing."

"And why would I cry, Jackie?"

Fifteen minutes later she stepped out of the restroom of the luxurious department store. Her tears had dried a long time ago and her complexion had found back its usual, delicate paleness people always stared with a barely contained envy. She took a deep breath, turned on her left and as she saw Jack she thought about Will, his last remark.

"Hello, honey… I can't have dinner with you though. I have a meeting at nine."

She smiled.


	8. Lesson eight

**Lesson eight: how to soften the abruptness of reality and keep on breathing**

Her eyes went from his chest up to his brown gaze. She could feel his heart beat against the palm of her hand. It was a regular motion, rather quiet but strong. Sometimes she wondered how it would be like if she could pass her fingers underneath his skin like in an odd fusion from which would appear a third entity.

For some reason she imagined that the sensation would be a burning one and it would spread all over her body.

Her fingertips slid down his waist as she finally broke eye-contact with him to rest her face on his stomach. A long sigh escaped her lips.

"I have never asked for anything."

His hand plunged through her hair, massaging her head softly. She closed her eyes and swallowed back the other words that wanted to come out. The silence was cold _ rather unbearable _ but breaking it was even worse.

Perhaps they should have sex one more time instead of remaining like that in each other's arms, barely moving. She didn't like cuddling. It sounded stupid and she considered it as a waste of time but they had already made love twice. She was tired, blank.

Growing in impatience Karen leaned up on her elbow and grabbed her bag, taking cigarettes out of it. She offered one to Will who against all her expectations accepted and tended him a lighter.

He had never looked so sexy, smoking in bed like that with such nonchalance; as if everything was normal and had always been. It made her smile and surprised, she laid down by his side quietly.

Stanley didn't smoke nor did her previous husbands. As a matter of fact, any man who had been part of her life had ever accepted a cigarette. Will was the first one, the only one.

If she had had the possibility to suspend time and live forever a single moment of her life, she would have chosen this one. The weight of their conscious restrained an integral pleasure but a harmony still managed to bring them far from the rest and she felt fine, there.

Then, without any warning and as she had finished her cigarette, Karen straddled him and looked into his eyes. His hand caressed her buttocks before going up along her spine. There was no doubt: he knew she loved that.

She leaned over slowly and let his breath caress her face for long seconds until she finally captured his lips in a deep, hungry kiss.

She never broke eye-contact with him. As soon as their bodies made connection, she plunged into his brown gaze and, a few inches away from his face, began the thrusts.

She kept in mind the heat of his flesh inside of her, the softness of his hands on her breasts and her back. She studied with attention the details of his eyes and her fingers scanned the features of his face as she speeded up the pace, feeling her orgasm increase in her lower stomach.

She had always loved their short breaths, the way they couldn't help but sigh all along. It was when she felt like they actually matched.

Reaching her climax she finally bent over and bit his lower lip, moaning in his mouth. It took her a couple of minutes _ as they were slowly succumbing to the released endorphin _ to realize that their fingers had end up intertwined and her palms were now leaning on his with strength.

As usual, Karen got up first and put on her clothes turning her back at him. She wondered if he liked it, observing the curves of the body he had touched and kissed. By then he always remained quiet and waited for her to break the silence.

Perhaps he felt guilty at this point.

"What are you doing tonight?"

"Grace and I go to the movies, and you?"

She zipped up her skirt, stepped on her stilettos and turned around to face him.

"Stanley is back into town so I assume we will go to the restaurant or something. We always do after a business trip. The distance eventually makes him corny."

As usual she put on her coat, grabbed her bag and headed to the lobby before stopping for a few seconds to look at Will.

She used to wink at him then before rushing out into her life but this time she simply smiled apologetically, staring at the floor.

They had always known it. As soon as they had passed the door of the suite earlier in the afternoon, they had sensed it.

It's just that none of them had managed to speak openly about it.

It was all implicit. Just as it had started, words weren't needed since they had always been sure that everything would come to an end eventually.

The only difference was that Karen had thought that she would feel relieved then for having taken the right decision; for having managed to go away from Will.

There hadn't been any argument, any required explanation.

They were just emotionally exhausted and yet she felt so empty.

She would have thought that as entering the mansion on Madison Avenue, the page would have been turned and she would already focalize on something else; that Stanley would be standing there in the lobby as he used to, a velvet box from Harry Winston or Tiffany in hand to apologize for his long absence.

And they would go to the restaurant, playing all along the model role for marriages.

Instead she passed the door of the manse quietly, almost desperate, and came to face Stanley holding a Louis Vuitton suitcase.

Perplexed, she looked at her husband and frowned.

"We need to talk, Karen."


	9. Lesson nine

**Lesson nine: how to fool everyone and pretend nothing ever happened**

The day Stanley left, all the rest fell down as well. It seemed that her life suddenly got trapped in a series of misfortunate events _ dark ones _ and so she remained in bed most of the time.

At least she could avoid the gossip and the heavy gazes that her numerous acquaintances would have landed on her if she had dared to attend some socialite parties. Some probably murmured that it was an act of cowardice but the truth was that she hadn't found any other way to protect herself from their sharp remarks.

Her existence sounded easier plunged in the darkness of a room.

And she didn't really care in the end. It almost looked better like that, a sort of needed reclusion far from Manhattan high society.

It just hadn't crossed her mind that the ones she had considered as her real friends would remain quiet and absent from her life as well.

She had neglected Jack over her affair with Will and the confession of her infidelity to Grace had stirred up a silent distrust between both women. They hadn't stopped observing each other without daring to put words over their discomfort for weeks, taking thus their distance little by little until Stanley's departure settled a cruel verity. Grace had called her a couple of times, by pure politeness, her tone of voice clearly indicating that she wasn't really touched by the case.

Not that she was to blame _ obviously Karen's adultery had never seemed fair to her _ but the silence following was a hard one to bear.

Jack had come over a few times but always left when she had declined his invitations to spend some time in The Upper East Side luxurious stores.

As for Will, he seemed to have turned the page over their affair, just as she had asked implicitly the exact same day Stanley had decided to leave.

He didn't call, didn't stop by either. And for the very first time Karen realized that she might have been wrong about him. Her strength was a lot more inferior to his and her hopes too high obviously.

Two weeks passed by before she finally abandoned her bed and stepped outside. As if nothing had happened, she headed to Grace's office _ early enough in the morning _ and sat quietly at her desk then opened some magazine.

Grace arrived thirty minutes later, vaguely taken aback by her presence but she didn't make any remark, just smiled.

The world hadn't stopped turning and maybe one day they would dare to mention Stanley's departure.

The evening arrived and with some apprehension, she entered Will's apartment as she had done so many times in the past.

But something had changed even though nobody seemed to notice. It was in her head, in her heart and life had adopted a whole different perspective.

Jack grabbed her hand and hurried in the depths of some conversation about his latest adventures. It seemed that she had just left for a few weeks, like on vacation and now that she was back, everyone was looking for an old routine. It was rather unexpected.

And then he arrived.

Her heart suddenly jumped in her chest and began to pound so loud that she instinctively crossed her arms over it as if it would ever have a chance to get noticed. Her reaction made her blush but she didn't pay attention to the slight confusion and stared at him instead, intently.

When her eyes finally found his, she knew it was too late.

There was cruelty in the way he treated her, as if they had never slept together; as if they hadn't shared anything special. He was playing smart and somehow she envied him for being able to go on quietly but deep inside she had never felt so offended.

She was the one who controlled everything. She used men as sexual objects, deprived of feelings, and then life was supposed to go on randomly.

Perhaps she had spent too much time with Will and now her own balance had been broken into pieces.

They finished the dinner, talked for a couple of hours and when she finally found herself alone with him, she took a deep breath seeking for courage to assume the scene that was coming.

As he proceeded to turn off the lights of the kitchen after doing the dishes, she slowly approached the table and leaned against it. A few seconds flew away in a complete indifference towards her presence in the room.

It really hurt now.

"Have I stopped being sexy to you?"

The question obviously took him aback and for the very first time he stopped and looked at her properly, standing in front of her. He didn't look confused, even less surprised though.

"Of course not, why are you asking me that?"

"You never called."

"I didn't know you wanted to go on. I really thought that you had come to the decision to stop it all that day and…"

"I had, indeed. But that didn't mean I had to completely pass unnoticed before your eyes from then on. Just because we don't sleep together anymore doesn't mean I have stopped caring about you. Obviously it's not your case."

Her voice broke down when she reached the last sentence and the frustration of the past two weeks suddenly slid on her lips.

"I kind of felt lonely…"

Her honesty hit the air with the harshness of all the resented pain and she swallowed back a wave of tears.

"It's not like nothing happened… My husband left me."

He could have laughed at her and said that she actually deserved it or simply pretend that he didn't understand the meaning of her confession. But instead he wrapped his arms around her frame and hugged her tight, placing his chin on top of her head.

"It's not that I had stopped caring about you, Kare. It's just that I didn't know how to behave after the end of our affair."

"Then maybe we should reconsider this option."

She felt him get tense against her before he suddenly broke the embrace and made a step backwards.

"What do you mean?"

Locking her eyes with his, she sat up on the table and spread her legs, revealing the edge of her black stockings against the paleness of her skin. She bit her lower lip, shrugged nonchalantly.

"Fuck me hard, now."

Her blood turned icy as she saw him shake his head apologetically.

"I'm sorry but I can't. We had the chance to never get caught and it's probably a sign that it was still time to stop before it being too late. I can't afford to lose Grace. She's so much more than a mere friend."

If she had ever doubted that words could hurt more than physical violence, Karen got the proof of the opposite at this exact moment.

Of course he would always choose Grace over her. Just like any other man, as soon as he had slept with her, she had simply got lost into a fog of indifference.

She left the place nodding quietly but as she stepped into her limousine, she couldn't help thinking she had just lost a friend along a very dangerous game.


	10. Lesson ten

**Lesson ten: how to make of your loss the beginning of a whole new story**

_You have always been more than a mere friend…_

Her knees hit the desk as she suddenly stood up taken away by a loud gasp. Card in hand, she looked around and swallowed hard to calm down the effusion of her heartbeats. It seemed that she had just awoken from a very long sleep, rushed back to life by a single sentence written down on a white card, as a private message.

Leaning the palm of her hand on the desk to get some balance, she bit her lower lip and witnessed _ disarmed _ how anger spread over her body. She began to shake uncontrollably and when she finally clutched her fists, tears rolled down her face.

Three months of painful acceptance since the last time she had been shamefully turned down and without any warning he rushed back in her existence, turning it all upside down. When she had finally thought that she might have turned the page and she dared to look at him without dreading his gaze, he rushed back into her existence like a violent hurricane, taking her completely aback; breaking down the fragile net of her new self-confidence.

He had planned everything. The message during the lunch he would take with Grace and how she wouldn't be able to speak to him at this exact moment. It almost sounded Machiavellian in all its meticulousness.

She hatefully loved him.

Her unsteady steps led her to the restroom. She turned the lights on, settled her bag on the ceramic countertop and finally looked up at her face in the mirror. Her complexion wasn't fair but transparent, blue veins embracing her neck in a delicate motion but it was obvious she was scared if not frightened.

She dried her tears quietly, swallowed back her sobs that seemed to resound loudly in the empty room. She had lost weight since Stanley had left. Not that much either but her collarbone was more prominent. She passed a hand over it, sighed.

"Karen, are you here?"

She hurriedly put her mascara back in her bag and taking a deep breath, headed to the main room of the office. She smiled at Grace but didn't say the slightest thing.

"I was afraid you had already left. Any message I should know about? If no, you can go now."

"I am not sure I will come back after lunch. I… I have a headache so if you don't mind I prefer to go home and have a rest."

Her voice betrayed her despair and Grace frowned, suddenly worried.

"Is everything alright? You look troubled. Perhaps I should accompany you and make sure you are fine. Now that you have moved out the manse, there is nobody to look after you."

The divorce had been signed a few weeks ago and Stanley had asked for the penthouse. His gesture had sounded cruel and ridiculous since he had always hated the place and tried his best to spend the least time possible there. But he had won and so she had left after finding a small two-bedroom apartment on Central Park West.

The first days had been odd since she had never really lived alone but the quietness of the place was beginning to seduce her and little by little she had the sentiment to be at home, which had never really happened before.

"No, it's okay. I'm going… I'm going to hail a cab."

"Call me when you arrive."

She nodded and left.

Things were slowly coming back to normal. Her complicity with Jack had been renewed and her friendship with Grace seemed to strengthen every day. So why had he decided to do that, like blowing on a house of cards with a delightful pleasure?

It was harsh.

She paid the driver as he stopped in front of her building and rushed in the lobby, barely nodding at the doorman. Within ten minutes she was back in her satin pajamas, a shawl on her shoulders, facing blankly some Venezuelan soap opera on tv Rosario used to watch way back when she was still living in The Upper East Side.

She probably fell asleep at some point because the ringing of her cell phone woke her up suddenly. Her heart still beating fast, she replied to Grace and was about to run a bath when someone knocked on the door.

No need to open it, she knew it was him. Because he was on the list left to the doorman and Jack was working at Barney's. Rosario never came on Tuesday.

There were only four names on her friends list.

Very slowly she headed to the door and as she opened it, came to face Will.

"Of course you have always been more than a mere friend to me."

His sentence took her aback as it seemed to finally give a suite to the conversation they had had that night at his place when he had turned her down and she had had to leave, three months earlier.

"Then why did you let me understand the exact opposite? It hurt like hell, Will."

"Because…"

She had closed the door behind him but for some reason they had remained next to it, not making the slightest step towards the living-room.

"Because it is easier to break someone's integrity than my own one…"

"You are a brilliant attorney, for sure!"

Their eyes locked and she turned on her heels, breaking eye-contact immediately. Heading aimlessly towards a window, she leaned against it and observed Central Park. It was odd to look at it from this side after so many years spend on the parallel avenue across the trees.

"But this kind of integrity also brings a lot of guilt. I'm sorry, Kare. I have never meant to hurt you."

At the sound of her nickname, a chill ran down her spine and she swallowed hard. She had always loved the way he pronounced it, how the sweetness of the letters got lost in his reassuring tone of voice.

"You'd better not treat me like shit again. I am not completely heartless."

But she let it go. Some would say too easily but she didn't care that much at this point. When his hands slid on her waist she knew she had missed him too much and wouldn't be able to afford to live the same situation again.

They kissed, taking away their regrets.


	11. Epilogue

**Epilogue: how to think that it was meant to be**

From the hundred drops falling down the window, she chose to follow the smallest one. It was going slowly, always threatened by the others that only managed to emphasize the beauty of its delicacy.

It sounded peculiar and yet extremely appealing for not fitting in the crowd.

"I wonder where your daydreams lead you."

A serene smile lit up her face as she looked at him sit down by her side. Quietly she accepted the mug of tea he had brought and rested her lips on the edge of it, letting the heat of the drink warm her up.

The clouds had invaded the blue sky suddenly and she hadn't had enough time to rush back home. When she had finally opened the door ten minutes later, her clothes had absorbed all the rain and she had headed straight to her bedroom _ soaked wet as she had been _ to change into a dry outfit.

He had brewed some tea in the meantime. He always did on Sunday afternoons.

"I wasn't daydreaming but observing."

For some reason she found their dialogue sweet. It made her smile brightly and she leaned on his shoulder in a tender motion. Responding to the odd chemistry that only lovers shared, he passed his arm around her waist and held her tight.

"What were you observing then?"

"Things we always miss out."

Her reply made him laugh, lightly. He planted a kiss on top of her head and she closed her eyes while taking a sip of tea.

Their life had changed. She had changed. All her perspectives hadn't broken into pieces or exploded within a second. On the contrary, it had been a long process, a very slow one that had nonetheless led her to this exact moment when she dared to face her feelings, to assume them in their whole terrifying splendor.

"When I wake up tomorrow morning, will you be there?"

There was nothing properly defined in their relationship but she knew that she was growing addicted. His presence was reassuring, peaceful enough to bring some warmth to a life she didn't always understand or manage to consider as hers.

Will calmed her down and represented a long-waited balance.

"If you want me to be here then I will."

"Is this a declaration of some sort?"

She broke the embrace and looked at him with amused eyes. They were teasing over their own sentiments. It had never happened to her before. It was delightful.

"Would you like it to be?"

"No, I don't know. I just don't want you to leave."

They hadn't made anything official but yet hadn't hidden themselves either. Grace and Jack had followed with a perfect fluidity, perhaps a bit disarmed at the beginning but little by little they had learned to accept it.

They didn't kiss in public but multiplied gestures of affection, smiles.

Would they cross the limits and assume to get involved in a serious relationship one day? None of them really knew and they didn't care that much. They were fine with the current situation and it was all that mattered.

Will stood up, headed to the kitchen to pour himself some tea and turned the radio off.

"Are you ready?"

With this tone of voice, he perfectly knew that she always accepted. She had a thing for challenges. It made her feel alive somehow.

She nodded frankly then went to sit at the coffee table.

"I take the black ones."

"Is this an old superstition of yours? You always go for the blacks."

"What can I say? They make me win."

"You don't protect your queen enough though."

"It's not in a dangerous position as long as I have my king."

When Stanley had asked her to leave the house, Karen had taken the chess board with her. Actually, it had been the only thing she had desired. The paintings, the sculptures, the vases, she had let it all behind without any regret.

She liked the shades of the oak, how so many games had been won and lost on it through the years. She had found it at a flea market a few weeks after her marriage with Stanley. It had made him laugh, declaring she could have bought a brand new one instead.

From then on she had known that she had made a mistake while saying yes to his vows. They were way too different not to make the spell break.

The board had a soul, a whole past of decades behind it. But Stanley had missed the point completely and reduced her sensibility to a ridiculous purchase.

She had never forgiven him.

"Will… What do you think of the chess board?"

Her question took him aback. She hadn't planned to ask him anything about it but the day Stanley had made fun of her for having bought it had just hit her mind with latent bitterness. Sometimes basing a life over a single object could make a lot of sense.

"I like it. It's a beautiful one."

"But it's old."

She looked how his gaze went straight on the chess board to find an answer to her remark. A few seconds passed by. Her heart speeded up its pace as she wished nothing but him to match her own idea.

He shrugged, raised his eyebrows.

"At least it has a soul."

She smiled, leaned over the table and captured his lips in a soft, long kiss.

She had lost a friend lately to get one of those rare confidents instead. Loss wasn't always about defeat.

And sometimes it was simply meant to be.


End file.
